Cnidoscolus urens

Native from Mexico through tropical America, it is an herb or shrub with stems that may become woody near the base. Stinging hairs cover its branches, leaves, and developing fruits and can cause skin irritation on contact. The leaves are divided into three to five broad lobes and have long stalks with a cluster of small glands near the blade. Branched flower clusters carry separate white male and female flowers on the same plant. Female flowers generally open before the male flowers in each cluster. The fruits are rounded, three-seeded capsules covered with stinging hairs. Seeds bear a fleshy appendage that attracts ants, which can carry them away and remove the appendage. Photographed in the department of Magdalena, Colombia.